The residents of Lac-Megantic, Que. are trying to pick up the pieces one week after a deadly train derailment brought life in the small town to a standstill.
Victims were honoured Saturday with a moment of silence, as the bells of Ste-Agnes church rang 50 times â once for each body that has been recovered and for every missing person who is presumed dead.
On the same day residents gathered at the church to mourn lost friends and family members, Manon Laprise celebrated her wedding.
âItâs beautiful, it is,â she told Âéśš´ŤĂ˝. â(But) we canât stop thinking about what happened.â
Laprise had considered putting the wedding on hold after the derailment forced her from her home for three days, but she decided against it.
Local barber Gerard Grondin said he returned to work a few days earlier than expected after some of his clients came knocking on his door.
âMen wanted to come see me this morning,â said Grondin, whoâs been trimming and styling menâs hair in the small town for more than 50 years.
His brother also owns a business in Lac-Meganticâs downtown, which was worst hit by a series of explosions that followed the July 6 train derailment.
The area, dubbed the red zone, remains closed to the public.
The weekly farmersâ market thatâs usually held in the heart of Lac-Megantic was relocated Saturday to a temporary location.
Vendors, however, said itâs difficult to stay open for business in the aftermath of the tragedy.
âI have nothing to sell today,â organic food shop owner Lucie Pinard said.
Pinard said all of her supplies are at the storeâs downtown location, which remains off-limits.
âWe canât go there to get our food or offer something to our customers,â she said. âHowever, I am here to take orders.â
Pinard said last weekâs fire came right up to her back door.
âComing here this morning is something else,â she said.
Another vendor, Marc Filiatreault, said everyone in town has been affected.
âWe didnât lose anybody close but itâs all second degree. We all know somebody who lost somebody close,â Filiatreault said.
Officials said Saturday that five more bodies were recovered, bringing the official death toll to 33. Seventeen others are still missing.
With a report from CTVâs Genevieve Beauchemin and CTV Montrealâs Cindy Sherwin